Nonhuman languages of Golarion
Although there are many human languages across Golarion, there are many more of nonhuman origin. Some of them have existed longer than humanity itself. Aboleth The language of the aboleth is one of the oldest on the face (and below the waters) of Golarion. Boggard This language of croaks and belched pops is spoken by the boggards of the Mushfens in Varisia. A crude pidgin of it is also spoken by marsh giants, and is supposedly even more disgusting to hear. Draconic It is believed that Draconic is among the oldest, if not the oldest language of the multiverse. Because of this, nearly all other languages can trace some roots back to this primordial tongue. Druidic This language has been guarded so vigilantly by the druids of Golarion that it remains a secret language to this day. Speakers of Elven or Sylvan may be able to discern a few individual words here and there, but even they remain baffled without a greater context to place them in. Dwarven Dwarven is a clipped language of hard consonants and guttural pronunciation. It shares some aspects with Terran, including the runic alphabet. Elven Elven is believed to be among the eldest, if not the eldest of the languages mortals speak on Golarion. Scholars conjecture that it was formed when elven speakers of Sylvan tried to introduce grammatical rules and vocabulary from both Celestial and Draconic. The elven alphabet contains thirty-three letters (twenty-four consonants and nine vowels). Giant The language of the giants that exists today is a mixture of an older form (called Original Giant) and Thassilonian. First used by the giant slaves of the runelords in the time before Earthfall, it spread to the rest of Golarion after the destruction of that realm. Gnome In terms of the sheer number of words in its vocabulary, Gnome is the largest language known. It has changed dramatically since it was first introduced to Golarion, a process which has by no means halted. Goblin Goblin is shared by the Goblin, Bugbear, and Hobgoblin races. It is an extremely flexible language, containing a plethora of terms related to subservience, fear, and death. Gnoll This language is hard for non-gnolls to understand and speak, as it is made up of countless barks, growls and yips. Like many other racial languages, its construction is a clear reflection of the cultural priorities of its speakers: gnoll has 37 words for the term "slave" and only two for "work". Halfling The language of halflings is believed to have developed from a coded version of Taldane and Varisian. It was first used in Cheliax among the halfling slave population and eventually spread across Avistan and Garund. Orc Much like the folk who speak it, Orc is a harsh and violent language, full of sharp delivery and hard consonants. It uses the Dwarven alphabet. Sphinx Sphinx is spoken by the guardians of Osirion. The ability to speak this language is needed to become a living monolith. Strix The language of the winged men of Cheliax is a pidgin of Azlanti and Infernal. Sylvan The language of the fey, Sylvan is one of the most linguistically-static of all languages. Thought to be nearly as old as Draconic or Abyssal, Sylvan has a tiny vocabulary which has barely changed over the eons. References Category:Languages